Background: For adults, the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS; Jobes, (2006, Managing suicidal risk: A collaborative approach, New York, Guilford) and Jobes, (2016, Managing suicidal risk: A collaborative approach, New York, Guilford)) is a treatment framework with replicated evidenced-based support for effectiveness. The current study is a psychometric validation of the Suicide Status Form (SSF-IV), the main assessment and treatment planning tool for CAMS, in an adolescent psychiatric sample.
Methods: Data were collected from 100 adolescents, aged 12-17, in inpatient settings (mean age = 14.6; 67.5% female, 80% white). Adolescents were administered Part A of the SSF-IV, as well as measures of overall suicide risk (both explicit and implicit), mental pain, Stress, Agitation, reasons for living, and self-esteem.
Results: Confirmatory factor analysis found a two-factor model to fit the data best, with Psychological Pain, Stress, and Agitation loading on one factor, and Hopelessness and Self-Hate on another. All of the core SSF constructs except Stress were significantly correlated with concurrent measures, and SSF overall suicide risk was significantly correlated with self-reported and implicit suicidality. Adolescents with suicide attempt history reported significantly higher scores on most core SSF items compared to no attempt history.
Conclusions: These results provide initial psychometric validation of the SSF for use with adolescents and indicate that it does not need to be adapted or modified for this age group.
© 2019 The American Association of Suicidology.